A Hand On My Shoulder
by Arcane Student
Summary: The Kaiju War is over, and the Shatterdome is going quiet. However, before moving on, Raleigh has one last thing he needs to do to both initiate Miss Mori as a Jaeger pilot, and to put the memory of his brother to rest. Please read & review!


**Disclaimer: I do not own Pacific Rim, its characters, plotline, or locations. Only thing that is mine is the premise of this story.**

After the War Clock had stopped its ticking, a lot of other sounds in the Shatterdome followed suit. The sound of blowtorches and mechanical tools soon stopped, as there were no more Jaegers to maintain. The sound of footsteps started to fade away, as fewer people were needed to maintain the facility. And soon the sound of computers and instruments began to die down as well, since the only thing left in the Pacific now was fish, and not Kaiju. No need to monitor fish.

All of this encroaching quiet made Raleigh a touch uneasy. Back at the Wall, he had constantly been surrounded by the sounds of construction and surly workers. Here, there had been preparation and tension hanging in the air, constant reports and notifications running over the PA systems. And back at the Alaska Base, the chatter that ran between himself and Yancy, excited for their next run. But this silence that was starting to take the base? It reminded him of that silence which had dominated his mind. For so long, that part of his mind had been silent. Until, well… Mako. He felt his lips quirk up in a small smile at the thought of the small woman.

_And speaking of Mako_. Raleigh turned to the simple closet in his quarters. There wasn't much in there, he never had a reason to put a lot of clothing on hangers at any point. Short of his old work jacket, only two things hung in there; his old Gipsy Danger pilot jacket, and Yancy's own jacket. He removed his brother's jacket from its hanger, rubbing the old leather between his fingers. That last mission with his brother was forever emblazoned in his memory, that last time he and his brother had walked together in their matching "uniforms", as they liked to call it. He hadn't touched them since that day.

_Guess it's time to change that. After all, Gipsy did get a new pilot._ Raleigh proceeded to walk out of his quarters, Yancy's jacket in hand, straight across the hall to Mako's bunkroom.

**CLANG CLANG CLANG**

_Man, these doors are not subtle._ He heard a bit of shuffling in the room, before the door proceeded to screech open, revealing its blue-haired occupant. She was dressed as practically as ever, losing her training as a Ranger just as much as Raleigh had in this time of peace. Mako appeared a bit startled at Raleigh's appearance at her door, though not quite as shocked as she was before Drifting with the man. _Hard to keep secrets when you share your brain._

"Afternoon, Mako. Hope I'm not disturbing you."

"No, not at all! It's actually good to hear another person around here. The quiet is… eerie to me."

"Glad I'm not the only one who felt that way."

Mako shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "No, of course you aren't. Don't forget, I lived here for months before you arrived."

"How could I forget, it was your shining face that greeted me on that drenched helipad."

She rolled her eyes at the comment. "Alright, I get it. No need to joke around."

"No, I'm serious. It was good to see an honest face after dealing with all of those workers on the Wall."

Mako took a moment to look down at what Raleigh was carrying in his hands, both out of curiosity and an attempt to hide the blush creeping on her cheeks. "What's that?"

Raleigh remembered why he was here. "Oh, right! Mhm…" Raleigh took the jacket in his hands and held it up. "As you know, almost every group of pilots for a Jaeger do something to show others their connection. Probably because we were treated as such rockstars in previous years. I actually heard about a team out of Canada that got matching tattoos." He paused for a moment, noticing her staring at him intently. "Anyway, my brother and I decided to do something a little more traditional." Raleigh took that moment to hold the jacket up, showing the Gipsy Danger logo on its back.

Mako held a hand up, fingers tracing the designs. "It's beautiful."

"Glad you like it. Yancy and I fought over the design for a few weeks before we settled on one. And I'm sure that he would've loved Gipsy being the one that blew the crap out of the Kaiju's home." The two pilots shared a giggle at the memory, and their "unorthodox" approach to their endgame of the war. "We decided, Yancy and me, that the pilots of Gipsy Danger deserved to have jackets as a symbol of our work. And so…"

Raleigh swung the jacket around Mako, opening it up and settling it on her shoulders. Her eyes opened wide at the action, just as Raleigh settled his hands on her shoulders. "Raleigh, I can't-"

"Stop that. You are a Jaeger pilot, co-pilot to Gipsy Danger. You have four Kaiju kills to your name, an impressive feat by itself, never mind that you are also one of the people responsible for ending the Kaiju War altogether."

"You can take credit for that too!" Mako's blush returned at the words.

Raleigh knew she would say something like this. "True, but I think we never got the chance to celebrate your success as a pilot, unlike the rest of us."

"But this is your brother's jacket."

"Which is exactly why you should have it. You are the only person I know who could whip me into shape besides him. The only person who… who…" The words began to get caught in Raleigh's throat, causing him to lean forward. Mako met him halfway, touching their foreheads together.

"It's okay, Raleigh. What is it?"

"You're the only person I've let this close since he died. That silence was crushing me, until your voice came in." A grin broke onto his face. "You helped me find myself again."

Mako smiled at this. "To be fair, you helped me just as much."

"Heh, fair enough." Raleigh collected himself and stood tall once again, Mako's eyes searching his. "I'm proud to give you Yancy's jacket, and to wear mine with yours."

Mako smiled, before giving a slight giggle. "Your brother was a bit larger than me, I see." Mako flapped out the arms of the jacket, accentuating the fact that her hands barely poked out the sleeves.

Raleigh let out a hearty laugh. "Well, Momma Beckett did raise two big boys!" At this, the pair shared a good laugh. _God, how long has it been since I've laughed like this?_ After a moment, the pair settled back into their former positions, standing with their foreheads pressed together. Raleigh decided to take the moment and dipped his head a little lower, pressing a light kiss against Mako's lips. At first he felt just the softness of her lips, before a bit of pressure greeted his lips, the kiss being reciprocated in kind. The moment passed, their heads still leaning into each other.

After what seemed like an hour, Mako took the opportunity to speak up. "So, want to go grab some dinner?"

A gurgling from Raleigh's stomach spoke up before he did, causing Mako to give a light chuckle. "I guess my stomach answered for me!"

As they turned to go down the corridor to the mess hall, Mako dipped inside Raleigh's room for a quick moment, confusing the man. She returned with another leather bundle in her hands. "Jaeger pilots wear these together, right?" She held the pilot jacket up for him to see.

Raleigh took it and put it on. "Right." As they walked down the hall, hand in hand, he could've sworn he felt a hand grip his shoulder, with a light voice whispering in his ear, one last message; "Keep walking, bro. I'll always be with you."

**I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review, all constructive criticism is appreciated!**


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